Daily, educators carry the weight of always having to have the answers. We are responsible for raising the next generation of doctors, lawyers, professors, and craftsmen and are expected to know exactly how to do it. The reality is that education, like all other professions, is constantly evolving to reflect the latest research and best practices, and we sometimes need help to keep up. However, because we are naturally humble, we often struggle to speak up and ask for help.
In 2019, I co-authored an Education Week article with my colleagues, Jared Myracle and Brian Kinglsey, on educators’ misunderstandings about how children learn to read. We advocated for a “No Shame Zone” that creates a safe space for education leaders to recognize and accept that we have unfinished learning around literacy. Three years later, I call for a “No Shame Zone” in professional learning.
As a former curriculum and instruction supervisor in Sullivan County, Tennessee, and Assistant Commissioner of Academics and Instructional Strategy at the Tennessee Department of Education, I have seen firsthand how challenging implementing a new curriculum can be. It requires expertise that is often hard to find internally because the materials are new to everyone in the school or school system, including district leadership. Therefore, the early stages of this work may require a temporary departure from schools’ and school systems’ typical strategies of relying on in-house support. We need a “No Shame Zone” in professional learning, so leaders feel comfortable seeking help.
However, according to Rivet’s 2022 study of the professional learning marketplace, leaders fear bringing in outside experts because they are concerned that the services will not be customized or relevant to the unique needs of teachers and students and that bringing in an outside expert will be a waste of time and money.
The reality is, a professional learning provider who is responsive to a district’s unique needs, deeply understands implementation science and creates systems and structures that honor adult learning theory is key to the successful launch of a curriculum. Here are a few advantages to bringing in a professional learning partner to maximize the impact of your curriculum.
Professional learning partners
- Create a safe space to learn the curriculum: It takes time to learn a new curriculum. Professional learning partners bring their deep curriculum expertise to a school or district, giving internal teams time to build their knowledge and, therefore, their ability to support implementation. It takes time to master a new curriculum, and external providers allow school and district teams the time they need to become experts.
- Help leaders avoid common pitfalls: We don’t know what we don’t know. A professional learning partner has the experience and expertise to know the common pitfalls of curriculum implementation and how to avoid them thus preventing schools and districts from repeating the missteps of others and starting their curriculum implementation off on the wrong foot.
- Help create enabling conditions: One aspect of curriculum implementation often overlooked is the systems, structures, and processes that can make or break new materials. From school schedules to common planning time, grading policies to observation and feedback models, school and system leaders must make adjustments to reap the full benefits of their curriculum. A professional learning partner can guide leaders through the necessary adjustments to set their new curriculum up for success.
Professional learning providers should not be viewed as a one-workshop-and-done kind of partnership, nor should they be viewed as an indefinite partner. Great providers, like those featured in the Professional Learning Partner Guide, build capacity within a district through a gradual release system.
In fact, this is an expectation of partners featured in our tool. Each partner profile features providers’ responses to “How do you build capacity?” to highlight exactly how they plan to work themselves out of a contract. Rivet expects providers to build a bench of talent and strong infrastructure within school systems to sustain curricula implementation over time.
There is no shame in looking to an expert for help. They will help you maximize the benefits and subsequent impact on teaching and learning of your curriculum more quickly and build sustainable capacity within your schools and system. So let’s make the “No Shame Zone” in professional learning the norm so that all teachers and leaders receive the support they need and deserve.